Rare unpredictable SPY 007 failure to come on

Hi guys,

I got my SPY from the first batch.

Since I have it, something really weird has occured on rare occasion. Actually it has happened three time exactly during it's life until now.

What happens is very simple : it does not come on when switching from 0 to another position.

It only happened at occasions when I was relatively slowly playing with low levels, like 1-2-3 maybe. Switching levels at around 0.5 to 1s of time intervals. I have no idea if that matter. 0-1-2-1-2-3-2-1-0-1-0... that kind of sequence.

At some point I go back to zero and the second later, when I try to switch to 1, the light won't come on. When this happens I have tried other levels as well, also gently tap the light to make the batteries move a little... nothing. I won't come on unless I open the tailcap and close it again.

The batteries were primaries 123 of good brand and not near depleted.

I checked the contacts, even treated them with Deoxit, made no difference.

This has happened so few times that I am not even really seeking assistance. I would not want to send it back for inspection to Dave, really the light behaves totally flawlessly otherwise. That also why I did not bother mentionning it before.

I am just curious to ask if anyone else has ever seen such a behavior on his SPY 007. You're playing with the clicks, pass to 0, then it won't come on anymore. I does not fail when it's on, it only seems stuck to 0 at some point.

Since the light has a lifetime waranty (with few exclusions) to the original owner, I never got worried about this. But since I am slowly considering swaping the emitter for something that fits my liking better, voiding the garanty, I am wondering if this behavior could possibly hide a more serious failure to come.

Thanks for any thoughts

You may have a bad cell...

Have you tried a different set of cells?

Is it possible that you are clicking through 0 and 1 fast enough to enable the lock-out feature? Clicking 0-1-0-1-0-1 in a short time frame turns on the lock-out feature, I know your going past 1 and hitting 2 or even 3 but it may still be picking up on the three fast on/off clicks.

My little problem has occured 3 times since I have the light, with months of time passed between occurence. Different sets of batteries were in the light each time. I don't think the cells are the problem since they were Panasonic primaries.

My SPY is from the first batch, which did not have the lockout feature. I have tried anyway the sequence just in case, as expected it doesn't do anything...

No matter how hard I try to reproduce the problem, I do not succeed. The UI just seem rock solid. Fast, slow, super fast, super slow, nothing seems to make it budge. Yet I have had this weird occurence three times in the past, then nothing seemed to make it come on again, except open/close the tailcap :shrug:

Maybe a bad contact that very rarely causes the problem, but then tapping the light should make it come on again??

If your light does not work properly please do not hesitate to contact me about it. tino_ale, a healthy STFu is a very durable and very reliable converter board. Yours could be defective. It is not so likely the batteries, though TB is right, it can be a bad cell. It can also be other things , see below. If it happens again I recommend you send it back, at some point this may become a bother. Of course I test for all types of converter board problems when building lights. I have seen them all and this one happens from time to time. Wayne and I do not know what causes this failure because of it's rarity it is not easy to replicate and it does not get worse or more frequent with time.

Having said all that, the general rule is if this happens only a few rare times then ignore it. It is most likely benign. You may not know if the light gets bumped and the batteries are temporarily disconnected. It is therefore possible for the uP to have an irregular start up and crash like any computer can with "bad" power. And as the owners manual says, while performing any back door power up if the light fails to function that is normal, you simply need to reboot it (power-up-0). Don't forget, the back door power up condition can also arise due to a hard shock to the light. This can happen with the light in a pocket if you brush past a table. The 007 is a computer and as such it demands perfect power.


Cheers
Dave

Thanks Data for your comments.

When it happened, the light was gently kept in my soft hands there is absolutely no way that the failure is due to a shock resulting in a micro-disconnection.

That said. Since it is a behavior you have already seen before, and since it is not supposed to get worse over time, for now I will keep it as it is. I am not so comfortable sending it back oversea with the risks involved (thefts, customs etc).

So far it has happened with such a rarity that it doesn't bother me. If it happens again, with a higher frequence, then I'll consider the warranty option.

In any case thank you for your support :grouphug:

tino_ale said:

It only happened at occasions when I was relatively slowly playing with low levels, like 1-2-3 maybe. Switching levels at around 0.5 to 1s of time intervals. I have no idea if that matter. 0-1-2-1-2-3-2-1-0-1-0... that kind of sequence.

At some point I go back to zero and the second later, when I try to switch to 1, the light won't come on. When this happens I have tried other levels as well, also gently tap the light to make the batteries move a little... nothing. I won't come on unless I open the tailcap and close it again.


I am just curious to ask if anyone else has ever seen such a behavior on his SPY 007. You're playing with the clicks, pass to 0, then it won't come on anymore. I does not fail when it's on, it only seems stuck to 0 at some point.

Click to expand...

I just got my 007 and while programming it ran into the exact same thing, but since successfully programming it I've had no such problem, even trying the same sequences as you did.

Now that I think I have it pretty well where I like it, there doesn't seem to be any problem anymore, but reading this thread made me wonder if anyone else ever had the same problem. Apparently not?

This happened to me maybe 3-5 times in all times and each time I could not reproduce the problem, no matter how I tried.

For me it has been a while since it last happened.

It looks like a quite rare problem! Therefore it is not a real issue to me (I don't rely on this flashlight for work for example) but the "ramdom" nature of it can be bothering even if it happens from time to time.

Dave offered to ship the light back for inspection but I decided not to bother with that. If it gets worse at some point maybe I will but until now it looks on the contrary that the issue has disappeared on my unit. :shrug:

Did you notice if it was primarily when you were programming or did it crop up from time to time afterwards too?

It never happened while I was programming the light. In fact except rising the level 6 to the maximum current (1200mA IIRC) I leave all other levels as they are. So as a matter of fact I do program the light very little.

The rare occurence it happened I was playing with the light, that's all. I was just clicking it back and forth on levels 0 to 3 max. Anyone who has as SPY understand how addictive the knob clicks are and why I do this sometimes

Also what I did is clean the contacts with Deoxit gold, it can't hurt to have clean and nice contacts.

Data, based on what you said about micro-disconnections due to shock, I'm curious: some lights like the Ra Clicky have springs at both terminals to prevent such occurrences, but the SPY doesn't. What was the reason for this design decision?

fyrstormer said:

Data, based on what you said about micro-disconnections due to shock, I'm curious: some lights like the Ra Clicky have springs at both terminals to prevent such occurrences, but the SPY doesn't. What was the reason for this design decision?

Click to expand...

It is complicated to put a spring on any PCB, let alone one as packed as the STFu.

The lights that really need it are weapon lights that receive enormous shock day in day out. And there, one of the big reasons is to protect the battery, verses having it slammed in to the contact like a jack hammer on every shot.


Cheers
Dave

I've had this happen to my 007 too. It was only once or twice though. The first time it happened I thought I had fried my $1000 EDC light:sick2: After I composed myself, I did a PU0 and everything was great. I'm not the original owner and I've had it modded with an XPG since the failure. I can't remember the last time it happened and it happens so rarely I don't see the need to send it back to Dave to troubleshoot. I guess if it ever becomes a normal problem, I'll have to happily pay Dave to fix it... I definately can't be without my 007:bow: I'd just have to EDC the Tri-V while the 007 is away:naughty: Since I can't remember the last time it happened... let alone if it was once or twice.... I'm not worried about it.

Good luck Tino:twothumbs... I'm glad I'm not the only one who experienced the horror of thinking.... somehow I destroyed an incredible light:sigh:... but thankfully didn't:sweat:

I remember the first time it happened too... I was like :huh: :sweat:

Then reinserted the batteries and it went on and I was like :hahaha:

It's Paris. My wife (at the time) and I had the same problem (going off and not coming back on) a couple of times when we visited.

Of course! LMAO!!!


Karl

tino_ale said:

I remember the first time it happened too... I was like :huh: :sweat:

Then reinserted the batteries and it went on and I was like :hahaha:

Click to expand...

+1! Exact same feeling!

Last night I was trying to tune level 3 a little more perfectly and it took me 3 or 4 times to get it exactly where I wanted it, during which time it froze twice until I did a reset. After that of course, it worked just fine.